As they strive to prove they are benefiting communities under the Affordable Care Act, nonprofit hospitals may become the latest battleground between fast-food purveyors and advocates of healthy—and preferably locally produced—cuisine.

“I am looking for opportunities for you to be the doctors to the world,” said Marydale DeBor, a former Connecticut hospital executive, at the convention for the National Farmers Union last month in Springfield, Mass.

Hospitals have long been a culinary joke, serving unappetizing food of questionable nutritional value to patients while selling fast food that is even more questionable in their cafeterias. Medical-school critics have chastised physicians for prescribing to patients costly drugs to deal with the effects of diseases that arise from bad diets and lack of exercise rather than feeding them healthy food and teaching them to eat better when they leave the hospital.

For the first time in its 111 year history the National Farmers Union will hold its convention in New England and Fresh Advantage’s Marydale DeBor is pleased attend as a member of the New England Farmers Union board of directors and delegate to the national convention.

Marydale will present at a breakout session called “Scaling up to Meet Demand” which will look at how farmers can grow to meet the demand for local foods by expanding and by working with fellow family farmers through cooperatives and other organizations.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will compel hospitals to promote population health in the communities they serve. Practicing prevention and keeping the general population served healthy will be a necessity as new payment models are adopted by third-party payers and pressure increases to control per capita costs. In addition, specific mandates tied to reimbursement include reducing patient re-admissions within 30 days of discharge.
PPACA also affects health-care sector employers: incentives exist within the new law for wellness programs that can keep an institution’s workforce healthier and more productive while reducing costs.

Want to learn more about the type of work Fresh Advantage does? Read this article to get a peek into a plan that was put together for addressing food insecurity at an urban Community Mental Health Center.

Even before taking office, the Vice President elect is taking action to curtail the programs that help people, mostly low income and people of color. South Dakota governor rejects Medicaid expansionModern Healthcare21 Nov 2016—Virgil Dickson

South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard chose to abandon plans toseek Medicaid expansion after meeting with Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Daugaard, a Republican who had been supportive of expanding Medicaid eligibility in his state, last week said he would not recommend expansion to the state’s Legislature this year after hearing the incoming administration’s plans for repealing or reforming the ACA.Brian Blase, senior research fellow at the conservative Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia, believes Daugaard was told that consistent with campaign promises, Congress will repeal the federal match for the expansion population.The Affordable Care Act provides 100% financing for Medicaid expansion. The rate would fall to 90% by 2020 and beyond. But the GOP now controls both houses of Congress, and while President-elect Donald Trump has stepped back from a full repeal of the ACA, Republican congressional leaders continue to talk about major changes to the ACA. ...

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Fresh Advantage practices "food care" by developing and delivering strategic operations guidance, custom training, and technical assistance to health care institutions, senior living organizations, and large employers. With "food care", your organization can improve the health and well-being of all the people you serve.